Previews

Madden NFL 09 All-Play

Spiffy:

Creating plays on the fly is really slick; motion controls work well in proper 11-on-11 matches.

Iffy:

Underwhelming visuals; the All-Play modes don't seem to allow for much longevity.

At Electronic Arts' pre-E3 event the company showed off a slew of new sports titles for the Wii, and though they lacked the polish of their HD siblings, they made us curious about what's in store for the family-friendly console's lineup of sports games. The first title that we saw in the Wii-specific All-Play sports lineup was its version of Madden NFL 09, and despite its difficulty and complexity being reduced for its appearance on the Nintendo console, its blend of accessible gameplay and just enough depth for more seasoned gamers may be enough to sate gamers on both ends of the spectrum.

In Madden NFL 09 All-Play, the core 11-on-11 football game is present and accounted for. You'll be able to use the classic controls you're used to, with a little bit of a twist that takes advantage of the system's motion controls. The only real Wii-specific change in this mode is that you'll have to flick the Remote up to hike and down to pass. Aside from that, it's got the same core Madden experience you've come to expect.

The All-Play portion of the game is where the new stuff come into play. The All-Play modes feature gameplay really geared towards the casual crowd, with simplified gameplay that's easier to pick up and play. If you're only using the Remote, you'll only be able to hike and pass the football. That's it. As you have no interface to actually control where your players go, everything is automated. The QB will run to where the computer thinks is the best place on the field and you'll be able to make a pass. All other players on the field will run their pre-determined paths, with or without the ball. The issue we noticed during our playtime is that our QB was constantly sacked before we could do anything. In the absence of direct control, we were unable to evade at all, which became a concern.

On the upside, if you simply plug in the Nunchuck, you'll be able to control whoever's got the ball to your heart's content. Yet the computer will still automatically determine who the best receiver is, so you might not pass the ball to who you were intending. For the most part, this feature actually works rather well, as it will often go to the most open player, but we did notice that the computer would occasionally make a pass to a receiver in a high-coverage area. These problems are alleviated outside of the All-Play modes, as you'll have full reign over your players and who you're passing to. The casual All-Play modes may not hold a lot of appeal for football aficionados.

One feature that seemed incredibly slick and intuitive, spanning both styles of play, was the ability to tweak your plays and create hot routes. With any play in the game, you'll be able to select the routes your receivers will be running and tweak them however you like, essentially allowing you to create your own plays on the fly. Before you hike the ball, you can push a button to see where your key players are going. You can adjust these paths by selecting waypoints, pointing the Remote to the various points on the field you want them to go to. This will allow for any sort of crazy play you can imagine and could potentially open up all sorts of new avenues to combat your competition.

Though it doesn't seem to hold as much allure for the hardcore set, Madden NFL 09 All-Play is looking like it'll have enough to draw in Wii-owning football fans. It remains to be seen whether or not the casual modes will be enough to draw in the coveted casual market, but from we can tell, the game has enough bundled in it to make a decent NFL showing on the Wii.